Oscura — Restaurant in Bradenton

My brother and I wanted to start trying new restaurants to recommend to our usual group of foodies. This small cafe was first on our list, and we were not disappointed. We arrived around 12 and had the opportunity to try their lunch menu, I ordered a Cuban sandwich and lavender specialty lemonade while my brother tried the chicken salad sandwich and a strawberry Mango craft iced tea. The food and drinks were stellar, complimented by the calm and quiet atmosphere and quality service, with a wonderful attitude by both servers present who were more than happy to discuss the drinks they had available on the menu. Prices were fair for the quantity as both our plates were served with potato chips, and to end our dining experience, we ordered some drinks to go, a Chai latte, and a regular latte and the server was kind enough to customize ours a bit and make our drinks more on the sweeter side and both were so fantastic we nearly forgot our earlier dining experience. I definitely recommend this place for a nice and quiet lunch. Now to some caveats...

Breakfast ends at 11, and without serving it alongside lunch, the menu appears rather limited in terms of food and may not offer something for everyone. I intend to return during breakfast and perhaps dinner if it is available. Dinner may be noiser as the location offers music and trivia events, but that may be to some people's liking.

Overall, this was a wonderful surprise and a wonderful start to our restaurant exploration adventure. Stay tuned!

Update: The place is currently restructuring its food menu, so breakfast and brunch are no longer available. The cafe still serves dinner during shows. I'll update again once the new menu appears. The drinks are still worth...

In response to the owners’ reply, I change two stars for one after that:

We spent over an hour at your place: we were approached twice because you forgot to prepare the second latte and brought it to the table later (about 10 minutes later). None of your “baristas” cleaned the tables on that hour, even though you might comfort yourself with a different opinion and excuses. None of your “baristas” even said “sorry” in response to the complaints we voiced TWICE. Instead of training them in service, you are writing that we refused the coffee we came for and didn’t receive. If your menu says HOT LATTE, it means it should be HOT, not body temperature. It’s neither cold coffee nor hot, and it’s disgusting. If you're looking for breakfast or good coffee - this place isn't for you: the coffee they sell as a latte is just black coffee diluted with cold milk, making it cold. There's no sign of any frothed milk. It tastes and looks terrible. When I reported this to two different waitstaff/baristas, there was no reaction; they just listened and silently added the cold coffee as if it were hot to the check.

The egg sando had a rancid oil taste - it was impossible to even take a bite. The spinach pastry also seemed stale and microwaved.

Even with an empty dining area, there are dirty mugs with unfinished coffee left on the tables. The staff doesn't seem to care about this and walk past the dirty tables without doing anything… the atmosphere feels like a dirty bar.

Don't claim to be a coffee spot if you're actually just a...

I have mixed feelings. This place is such a great vibe with live music, friendly staff and amazing coffee! Visited for the first time, didn’t know what to order and the barista said he loves the honey, cinnamon iced late with oat milk so I decided to try it and it did not disappoint! I also ordered the avocado toast ($9) as well as the chicken salad sando ($11). The total was $30. The food was nothing too crazy flavor wise, tastes like your basic avocado toast and chicken salad sandwich but the presentation of the avocado toast was pretty. The size of the avocado toast and presentation of the chicken salad sando was a bit disappointing after seeing the pictures of each item on their instagram. The chicken salad sando looked different and had completely different ingredients so not sure if they have different chicken salad sando options. Also, I wish the barista would have mentioned the oat milk would be extra because I’m a little upset about how much a latte came up to be almost $8 but it does say it’s $.80 extra on the menu so can’t be too upset. Otherwise, the atmosphere is great, relaxing and loved...